


Death Wanes

by GrumpyBox



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Rescue Bots
Genre: Kidnapping, Manipulation, Torture, if you know me then you know this is going to be angsty, not meant to be a happy fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2019-07-04 01:08:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15830628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrumpyBox/pseuds/GrumpyBox
Summary: When Cody Burns was captured by the DJD he didn't know what to expect. What does one do when they are in the clutches of the galaxy's most feared assassins. Talk to them, of course, and use your adorable charming personality to melt their sparks and change their views about the Autobots. It's a shame that everyone's already dead....but Cody doesn't need to know that.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have had this fic sitting on my laptop FOREVER!!!!! I didn't know how I wanted to approach it. At first, it was going to be straight up torture but then my brain said "NOOO, NOT CODY!!!!!" So I've been struggling to find a story that worked until I came up with one....just now. So yaaaaaay! I hope you enjoy.

Cody Burns awoke to the frightening sensation that his skin was about to burn off. Startled, he attempted to aright himself and froze when his small blue eyes met the soul piercing gaze of large red optics. His lip quivered involuntarily as he struggled against his bounds to find the source of the heat. Cody turned his head slightly to the left only to quickly avert his gaze when the vibrant hue of the fire stung his eyes. Cody tried again, slowly, to see the source of the heat. His heart skipped a beat when he realized the large mech behind him was at least twice the size of Heatwave and had a large smelting pool tucked deep into his chassis. Cody turned his head forward and was once again met with the unnerving glare of the mech before him. A glint of cruel satisfaction glazed the mechs optics as Cody finally came to the full understanding of his situation. The smelting pool and the sinister glare were not the cause of Cody’s distress, even the fact that there seemed to be no immediate way of escape did not unnerve the child. It was the dark purple insignia that formed the helm of the mech that caused Cody to choke on his breath. He had been taken by the Decepticons. 

 

Although the Rescue Bots had never participated in the war, Cody and the rest of the Burns had learned about the Decepticon army from Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. They were a ruthless band of soldiers who had waged the Cybertronian war across the galaxy. They caused the decimation of Cybertron and had brought destruction to whatever planet they found themselves on. They were callous, sparkless, and preyed on the weaknesses of other species. Optimus had once soothed the young boy’s fears by telling him there was no energon on Griffith Rock so the Decepticons would never attack the town. The boy’s family and friends would never be in danger.  _ He _ would never be in danger. Cody never once doubted the Prime’s words, but now he had found himself deep within the lion’s den. Sweat and tears pooled at the corners of Cody’s eyes as the young boy tried to collect himself. Cody tried to get a hold of his surroundings only to find that the room was pitch black except for the burning furnace behind him and the deep red light of the purple Decepticon’s optics. 

 

“I see you are awake little one,” the Decepticon purred in a shockingly smooth voice. Regardless of the tone, Cody shuddered at the sound of the mech. The mech’s voice was rich like velvet and ordinarily the deep tenor would have soothed the boy’s nerves, but the devilish look in the Decepticon’s optics spoke otherwise. For a moment, Cody didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t sure if the Cybertronian would continue talking or just begin torturing him. Despite the overwhelming fear that clouded Cody’s senses, he knew he couldn’t allow himself to die weak and afraid. It’s not what Heatwave would do. Heatwave would fight till the very end, talking back to his captors while trying to escape. Chase would use logic and reason to deduce a way of escape while Boulder would try to talk the mech towards peace. Blades….Blades would be terrified, but he would not cower for long. Blades would summon up his resolve and find a way out despite his fears. Cody couldn’t just give up when he knew his friends wouldn’t. Maybe they were even looking for him? Cody couldn’t let them find him in this state. He couldn’t let them down. Slowly, Cody lifted his head and stared directly into the optics of the purple Deception. He breathed deeply, thinking of how to approach the mech. Finally, he exhaled and smiled. 

 

“Hello, I’m Cody,” the young boy managed to say this without choking on his words,” it’s...nice to meet you. Can you tell me your name please?” 

 

Cody shuddered as a heavy silence settled over the room. Minutes felt like hours as the purple mech stared down at the young boy with an unreadable look in his optics. Finally, the mech shifted until his optics were level with Cody’s. 

 

“Hello Cody, I’m Tarn,” the rich voice washed over the boy’s body causing him to shudder. Listening to the mech talk was like being shrouded in a warm blanket. A deadly warm blanket. A blanket as warm as a giant smelting pool behind your back. “You’re a brave little fleshling aren’t you?” Cody stifled a laugh at that. He certainly didn’t feel brave. “Most bots can’t even look me in the eye, let alone say their name. I see now why Lord Megatron asked me to retrieve you.”

 

“Lord Megatron? As in,  _ the _ Lord Megatron of the Decepticon army?” Cody’s curiosity squashed any residual fear he had and overtook him completely. 

 

“Hmmm. So you’ve heard of my master. What exactly _have_ your Autobot friends told you about my lord fleshling?”

 

Cody could tell by Tarn’s tone that this was less of a question and more of a warning. It was obvious from the emphasis on the word “lord” that the mech adored the Decepticon leader. Cody had to choose his words carefully in this situation, or else risk being murdered before his friends could come rescue him. 

 

“Well, I don’t believe what the Autobots have told me could ever amount to what _you_ have to say about your lord,” Cody paused trying to decipher the mech’s expression. Tarn said nothing so he continued, “you know Lord Megatron as a leader, have seen him in battle, have spoken to him personally. I mean, if your leader asked you _personally_ to find me then he must hold you in high regard. If anything, I’d probably learn more about Lord Megatron from you than from anyone else. So...if you don’t mind me asking, what is Lord Megatron  _ really _ like?” Once again a heavy silence fell over them. Cody was worried that he may have overstepped his bounds when suddenly the lights turned on in the room. Cody whined softly as his eyes were assaulted by the unfamiliar brightness and the scorching heat began to leave his body. He blinked through the pain in an effort to finally see his surroundings. He was surprised to find that the room looked oddly familiar, as if he had seen something similar before. As he pondered the room, he saw something shift in the corner of his eye. Cody’s field of vision was quickly overtaken by the sight of five large-heavily armed-  decepticons.

 

“Well fleshling,” Tarn said as he stood to his full height,” you surprise me. You find yourself at the mercy of the DJD and yet you ask me to tell you a story.” Tarn had been looking up past where Cody was still seated. His optics were distant and icy as if he wasn’t even in the same room as the other four mechs and child. Cody was still struggling to decipher the Tarn’s strange mannerisms when the red optics beamed down on him….warmly. “My master would tell you this, and he would be right, that you are being deceived,” Tarn seated himself down again and leaned his face plate closer to Cody. “ _The Autobots believe themselves to be the glorious saviors of Cybertron. They believe they rescued our civilization from the totalitarian grip of my precious lord but this is not so. The Autobots are fools! Lord Megatron rescued our people from the shackles of oppression and granted us a gift-- NO-- a right that had long been withheld from us._ ” Cody’s eyes grew painfully wide in their sockets, but he was too entranced by the melodic voice of the mech before him to pay any attention to that. Deep inside Cody, a small voice screamed for the young boy to cover his ears and run away. But he couldn’t. Tarn’s voice was so sweet, like honey dripping straight from the comb, it shrouded all of his senses leaving him numb. Cody leaned in closer as Tarn’s voice became deathly quiet, afraid he’d miss the mech’s words. “ _Lord Megatron,_ ” Tarn continued in a voice close to a whisper,” _granted us something the functionalists tried to take away with their caste system, Zeta and Sentinel Prime tried to trick us out of it with laws and regulations. Even your precious Optimus Prime has withheld this truth from us by waging millions of years of war against my lord._ ” Cody head felt like it was about to burst and his body trembled and convulsed but he couldn’t stop listening to the beautiful voice. 

 

“W-what i-is it? Wh-what d-did M-meg-gatr-ron g-give to you?” Cody struggled through the words as his senses began to spiral out of control. Tarn brought his faceplate inches away from Cody’s head. The heat that radiated from Tarn overwhelmed Cody as his eyes lulled back into his head. 

 

“ _Till all are one_ ,” Tarn whispered into the boy’s ear.

 

Cody slipped into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're wondering if I have a soul....I don't.

They shouldn’t have had so much blitz.

 

 

 

They shouldn’t have had so much blitz.

 

 

 

 

They **_really_ ** shouldn’t have had so much blitz.

 

 

 

 

Tarn could barely keep his spark from trembling as he paced back and forth across the room outside of the fleshling’s cell. Cody, Tarn had to keep reminding himself, Cody’s cell. What kept his spark trembling was not the presence of a disgusting meatsack aboard his ship despite how incredibly revolting that fact was. NO. What rattled his core was the undeniable fact that he had disobeyed his Lord’s orders. He had disobeyed Megatron.

 

“Do not kill anyone.”

 

The command was so foreign to the purple tank he honestly believed it was a joke. He nearly permitted himself the mistake of laughter.

 

“Do you find me amusing, Tarn?”perhaps he had not kept his emotions as well hidden as he had hoped.

 

“Forgive me my Lord, but you are joking are you not?”Tarn bowed his helm low to the ground as he addressed his master.

 

“No,”Megatron’s voice echoed against the Nemesis’ walls,”I am not nor have I ever been joking.” Tarn silently chastised himself and made vowed to add more offerings to the shrine to Megatron.

 

“Pardon my insolence.”

 

“As I was stating before, you are not to kill or harm anyone on this mission. If you are attacked, defend yourselves without murdering anyone. I need to boy’s comrades alive for my plan to be exacted. Do I make myself clear Tarn?”

 

“Perfectly my Lord.”

  
  


Obviously the frag not because everyone was dead.

  
  


Everyone.

  
  


Tarn hadn’t meant to kill anyone. He had even yelled at Helex when he stepped on a tree on the outskirts of the boy’s home. Tarn had simply made the tiny error of taking a quick blitz break before entering the small town of Griffon Rock. It truly wasn’t even his fault that everyone died. It was that dumb old lady with the angry feline creature that looked like Ravage. That filthy beast hissed at The Pet from a tree and of course The Pet ripped its innards out. The old hag came running out of her home and threatened, actually threatened, the DJD. Tarn couldn’t just stand there as a pathetic excuse for a sentient creature dared threatened him, so he did things the old fashioned way and stepped on her. Everything after that point became blurry. Tarn couldn’t remember if a firetruck ran him over or if a helicopter landed on him, maybe both. He remembered punching a police car so hard it’s helm split open and some human femme screamed before she hit the pavement with a splat. Did he throw her on the ground or did she fall off of something? That part was still fuzzy. He took another blitz break after setting someone’s house on fire and took another swing at the police car’s corpse just for the hell of it. He was going to leave after that too. Truly. Honest to Primus. It was the firetruck’s fault, Heatshave….no Heatwave was his name. He had lost his arm sometime during the fight and his leg was leaking profusely. One optic was cracked while the other was flickering on and off like a dying blue flashlight. In his good servo, he held the battered corpse of some fleshie in a yellow jacket. It was so revolting. The limp thing was dripping red human energon all over the place and it’s helm was no longer attached. That stupid firetruck had to make everything worse. He had to open his stupid intake and say, “What, Megatron’s too weak to do his dirty work himself?” Megatron? Weak? In the same sentence? Tarn couldn’t let that pass. He couldn’t forgive such insubordinate behavior towards his mast- no his god! If that firetruck had just stayed silent then maybe he DJD wouldn’t have razed the entire city to the ground. It was all their fault for making him kill everyone, they were responsible for their own death.

 

Still...that didn’t change the fact that he had disobeyed Megatron. At least the boy was still alive….

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“I think it’s dead,” Helex said as he prodded Cody’s leg with a digit. “It’s been…..I think it’s been an earth hour?”

“So,” Tesarus snorted. He was sipping a cube of energon in a small corner of the room. Kaon sat in a large chair stroking the Pet in his lap while Tarn had leaned wearily against the command module. “Human organics normally sleep for ten, right? I don’t really know, their time system doesn’t make any sense to me.”

“Even so, it’s not moving. It looked like it was having a seizure when Tarn was talking to it, maybe it died?”

“Tarn didn’t kill the human. Megatron would be furious and have us all offlined if Tarn disobeyed a direct order and destroyed our target.”

“Tarn  _ did _ kill the human,” Kaon stated frankly as he continued to stroke the Pet,” that’s why he’s pouting by the command module like a sparkling.” All optics turned to Tarn who was now holding onto the command module as if his life depended on it. Kaon slowly rose from where he was seated and walked over to Tarn’s side. He stroked the Pet in his arms lightly before placing him at his pedes. “Don’t fret Tarn, Vos went to get Nickel. She’ll take care of Kyle.”

“Cody.”

“What?”

“The organic’s designation,” Tarn sighed as he turned to face Kaon,” is Cody.”

“Right, Cody. He certainly is a strange one. I expected him to act timid and beg for his life the moment he laid his optics on you, but instead he asked you for the truth about Lord Megatron. You’d think that one of the Autobots’ pets would take the word of Optimus Prime as law, but this one is truly special. It has a very curious mind, perhaps that is what Lord Megatron wants us to take advantage of. If we are able to guide the youth towards the truth, maybe he will share intel concerning the Autobots with us.”

“That is a plausible explanation,” Tarn groaned wearily.

“Well ya can’t guide something that’s dead now can ya!” Helex mocked from across the room. “How many offerings will that be now Tarn, seven?”

“Seven!?” Tesarus exclaimed nearly choking on his energon. “I thought he was on number three, where did the other four come from?”

“Oh, you didn’t see what happened to the Pet earlier did ya?”

“What happened to the Pet?” Kaon ground through his dentae. He whipped his helm towards Tarn as his face contorted with disapproval. Tarn couldn’t tell if he wanted to murder everyone in the room, kill himself, or both. Megatron needed the Autobots to live, and Tarn had killed them. Megatron needed the organic, he had specifically asked for him, and Tarn had killed him. No amount of offerings could atone for his sins. His Lord and master would punish him and his team severely for his wrongdoing. Megatron was not known for his mercy, a trait Tarn adored and now feared, and would ensure that the punishment was slow and painful. Perhaps, Primus would be merciful and allow Lord Megatron to punish him personally. If he were to die, it would bring his spark great joy knowing that his Lord had murdered him with his own strong servos. The scared digits of his master’s silver servos would graze the thick cables of his neck, energon would languidly trickle down Tarn’s chassis as his master would lean in closer and-

 

“Tarn!” Nickel smacked the back of Tarn’s helm with a wrench. “I’ve been calling your name for 3 joors now. The human’s awake.”

“What!?” Tarn pushed past his angry CMO and hurried to Cody’s side. The boy released a deep throated groan before finally opening his eyes.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Questions? Comments? Suggestions? I love feedback so feel free to comment below.


End file.
